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Sunday, December 3, 2023

Former Mexican Mafia Member & FBI Informant Charged with Stabbing Former Officer Derek Chauvin

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat


John Turscak stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 times at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson and said he would have killed Chauvin had correctional officers not responded so quickly, federal prosecutors said.

Known as "Stranger," Turscak is an incarcerated former gang member, collector for the Mexican Mafia, and one-time FBI informant who was charged Friday with attempted murder in the stabbing of ex-Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona.

Turscak, serving a 30-year sentence for crimes committed while a member of the Mexican Mafia, told investigators he thought about attacking Chauvin for about a month because the former officer, convicted of murdering George Floyd, is a high-profile inmate, prosecutors said. 

Turscak later denied wanting to kill Chauvin, prosecutors said.

Turscak is accused of attacking Chauvin with a makeshift knife, or shiv, in the prison's law library around 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 24, the day after Thanksgiving. The Bureau of Prisons said employees stopped the attack and performed "life-saving measures." Chauvin was taken to a hospital for treatment.


Turscak told FBI agents interviewing him after the assault that he attacked Chauvin on Black Friday as a symbolic connection to the Black Lives Matter movement, which garnered widespread support in the wake of Floyd's death, and the "Black Hand" symbol associated with the Mexican Mafia, prosecutors said.

However, in contrast to what corrections officers reported, Turscak told FBI agents that even though he'd been thinking about assaulting Chauvin for a month because he is a high-profile inmate, he denied wanting to kill him.



Turscak, 52, is charged with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. The attempted murder and assault with intent to commit murder charges are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison. He was scheduled to complete his current 30-year sentence in 2026.

Turscak has represented himself from prison in numerous court matters making for easy access to the prison's law library. Many prison gang members, especially the Mexican Mafia have used pro tem, or self-representation in order to call fellow gang members to court. This brought prisoners from various areas together to discuss gang business, and politics and even commit assaults and murder inmates during their transfers.


After the stabbing, Turscak was moved to an adjacent federal penitentiary in Tucson, where he remained in custody on Friday, inmate records show.


Former police officer Derek Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating George Floyd's civil rights and a 22-and-a-half-year state sentence for second-degree murder.


Chauvin's lawyer at the time, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of the general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he would be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was mainly kept in solitary confinement "largely for his own protection," Nelson wrote in court papers last year.

Chauvin’s stabbing comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in recent years following the beating death of James “Whitey” Bulger in 2018 and wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s jail suicide in 2019.

The attack on Chauvin was the third incident involving a high-profile federal prison inmate in the last six months. Disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed in July at a federal penitentiary in Florida and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski killed himself at a federal medical center in June.


Who is John Turscak?

Turscak led a faction of the Mexican Mafia in the Los Angeles area in the late 1990s, going by the nickname "Stranger," according to court records. Tusrcak was initially a member of the Rockwood street gang in Los Angeles, having jumped in at the age of 13. He was first arrested for robbery at 16 years old in 1987. Similar to eMe 'Godfather' Joe "Peg Leg" Morgan, Turscak was not of Mexican descent but Slavic and had grown up in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Highland Park.

During his decades in prison, he was suspected of carrying out stabbing attacks on over 10 fellow prisoners at the direction of the Mexican Mafia, or La eMe of which he became a member in 1990. During his time in the Mexican Mafia, he said he authorized "assaults of individuals for infractions of Mexican Mafia rules," and collected "taxes" from street gangs and drug dealers in "return for Mexican Mafia protection and permission to engage in narcotics trafficking."

He also said he murdered a man in 1990 while he was incarcerated in Folsom Prison, and authorized the murder of another man in 1998, according to court documents. 

eMe Faction War

Mexican Mafia dropout and cooperating witness Max "Mono" Torvisco testified regarding a conflict he described as a “war” that developed between two factions early in 1998 with an attempt on Turscak's life. One faction, led by John “Stranger” Turscak and his associate Jesse “Shady” Detevis, confronted another faction which was led by "Chuy" Martinez, Frank "Sapo" Fernandez, Jimmy "Smokey" Sanchez, Torvisco, and others.  

The feud arose after Martinez, "who already had territories in East Los Angeles, began moving into several other areas of the city and was considered to be getting too big" by Turscak and others in the gang, a former member-turned-informant named Max "Mono" Torvisco would later tell the FBI, court records show.

The schism led to violence, distrust, and several murder attempts. At one point during the Spring of 1998, Turscak plotted to kidnap an ally of Martinez named Rolo Ontiveros by luring him to a vehicle where hitmen were waiting, according to Torvisco's statement to the FBI.

On Easter Sunday, 1998, Turscak was at a family gathering in Atwater Village when two Mexican Mafia foot soldiers drove up and sprayed him and his family members with bullets. No one was killed in the shooting, and Turscak avoided gunfire by ducking under a vehicle. Torvisco would later testify he was angry at the shooters because they weren't Mexican Mafia members and, therefore, didn't have the right to kill someone who was.

Torvisco added, though, that he was so angry at Turscak at the time that Torvisco wanted to kill him personally, according to a transcript of the hearing. He testified there were other attempts to kill Turscak, including one where two hitmen waited for him with guns and walkie-talkies at an area he was known to frequent, but he never showed up.

After the Easter Sunday shooting, Martinez left a voicemail on the phone of one of Turscak's close friends in which he laughs and references his "Easter Salundas," according to an unsealed FBI report.

Former FBI Informant

He became an FBI informant in 1997, providing information about the gang and producing recordings of conversations he had with other Mexican Mafia members and associates. The FBI agreed to pay $2,000 a month for his cooperation. The investigation led to more than 40 indictments. 

About midway through the trial, the FBI dropped Turscak as an informant because he was still dealing drugs, extorting money, and authorizing assaults. Prosecutors then charged him along with the other Mexican Mafia members and associates.

According to court papers, Turscak plotted attacks on rival gang members and was accused of attempting to kill a leader of a rival Mexican Mafia faction while also being targeted himself. Turscak pleaded guilty in 2001 to racketeering and conspiring to kill a rival Mexican Mafia member. 

The government presented evidence that Martinez, Fernandez, and Sanchez had approved the murders of Turscak and Detevis and had discussed plans to carry them out. On Easter Sunday in 1998, Torvisco, Rochin, and others actually made an unsuccessful attempt to murder Turscak.  

The government also presented evidence of a conspiracy to commit murder unrelated to the Turscak dispute. That conspiracy involved Fernandez, Martinez, and Gonzales, who discussed killing James “Bouncer” Lopez because of Lopez's interference with the collection of drug taxes in the Valley.

On appeal, according to court documents, the appellants claimed that various aspects of the government's involvement with and reliance on informant John “Stranger” Turscak resulted in conduct so improper that their due process rights were violated.


30 Year Sentence

He said he believed that cooperating with the FBI would have earned a lighter sentence. "I didn't commit those crimes for kicks," Turscak said, according to news reports about his sentencing. 

"I did them because I had to if I wanted to stay alive. I told that to the FBI agents and they just said, 'Do what you have to do."' He was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison. He initially served his time in federal prison at USP Atlanta. But was removed from the general population and into the SHU for security reasons in 2002. He was attacked in 2003 by his cellmate.

Turscak was attacked by his cellmate after paperwork confirming his government cooperation was widely distributed, he wrote in a lawsuit filed two years later. He wrote that he was housed in the same yard as a co-defendant who knew of his cooperation and that after being stabbed and spending a week in the hospital, no one tried to interview him, "although I have expressed a desire to press criminal charges."

 

"I ask the court to grant this petition in all fairness before I end up murdered or lose my sanity waiting for the BOP to transfer me," Turscak wrote.
 
He petitioned for a transfer out of that prison, fearing he would be targeted as a "snitch." He stated he was being housed with other Mexican Mafia members in the SHU, including the one who had previously attacked him. He wished to be transferred back into California state custody in their dropout or "Special Needs Yard." He was moved to a solitary unit in North Carolina before complaining of the conditions and was transferred to Tucson.


"Turscak harbored obvious animosity toward the government due to the government's decision to prosecute him for the unauthorized criminal conduct he engaged in while an FBI informant," Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Dugdale wrote in an August 2008 legal filing.

FCI USP Tucson

His sentence was up in 2026, less than 3 years from now. He would have been able to enter a halfway house in 2025 but is looking at decades more, if not life, in prison. It is possible he committed the stabbing in order to remain in federal prison, and gain notoriety. 

It is likely, having committed an attempted murder while in federal prison, he would be transferred to a prison like ADX, the federal Supermax USP Florence, Colorado that houses high profile inmates such as "El Chapo" and, oddly enough, Turscak's old rival Frank "Sapo" Hernandez who is serving his life sentence there.

47 comments:

  1. This guy is really smart just like everyone else "in the game", commits a stabbing right before his release. Now he's going to spend the next decade or so in a higher security unit. That $2,000 a month was probably the most money he ever made in his life. Most of the people in this lifestyle are too lazy to work and he is a perfect example.
    I wonder if he's going to testify against himself at trial.

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    Replies
    1. Totally agree. Most of the people "in the game" are total idiots.

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    2. @Detroit. Haha- John Tuscak, Tellin all his business, sit down in court and be his own star witness..

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    3. Detroit, did you run across a lot of people like this during your years with the Feds? Who was the worse one you’ve personally encountered?

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    4. 7:18:
      Most of them are no smarter than this guy. Everyone thinks that the American mob is like the Godfather or Tony Montana. They're more like the Three Stooges. These mafioso are supposed to be high rollers with a lot of cash but they are mostly bums doing things like running petty scams or stealing parking meters. Stealing parking meters is a lot of work and only gets you a bag of quarters. The new parking meters means they must move onto other illegal activities. They are no different from the marichuneros.
      The American mob has no morals just like the cartels. They will get a 12 year old hooked on heroin to get her into prostitution just as easily as any cartel would. Most of them didn't sell drugs in the 60's because they didn't think the profit was worth the work and risk. During the 70's a lot of small time mafioso got involved in drugs and did quite well waking the bosses up to the potential. Since the 80's every mob family in the U.S. and Canada have been involved with drugs to some degree.
      A small number of the upper echelon gets most of the cash because everyone has to give them a cut. In turn, they dish out territories and approve illegal activities. It's no different from the cartels charging piso. The American mafia is a lot like the cartels, except they rely more into prostitution, gambling and vice. On the up side they are far less violent than the cartels or street gang members. This is thanks to American law enforcement and their desire to enjoy their ill gotten gains.
      The worst ones are the low level street gang members. They are young and reckless and kill for the most petty reason. They are also the hardest to get to cooperate thanks to the street code. The higher up you get into an organization the better chance that you will get a cooperating witness. Hence the street dealer gets 30 years for selling ounces while the guy dealing kilos gets 10 years or less.
      I started working on an ambulance in Detroit in 1975 before I got into law enforcement. I was used to the Detroit of the 50's and 60's and was surprised by the violence of the 70's. The Detroit Police Department was totally unprepared to deal with the violence, especially the violence related to heroin trafficking and it took them a couple of decades to learn how to handle the violence as we were hit with the crack epidemic, meth epidemic, etc.

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    5. Right on Detroit! Why do you think the major Cuban Players from Detroit don’t get spoken about as much as the Likes of YBI/BMF/Chambers etc etc. You got Bolo, P.Negril, Los Padron’s
      , Big Rudy (Mexican) who were heavyweights in their own right. N I didn’t even add the Italian fellas.

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  2. I doesn’t make no sense if la eme doesn’t eve like blacks they tried to whipe them out of Los Angeles hoods

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    1. I agree chief my cousin from Boyle heights State Street Locs in East l.a said the same who knows

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    2. Turscak was not of Mexican descent but Slavic

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    3. 4:03 The Slavic people immigrated from nations we know today as Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

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    4. FBI made him pulled that hit

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    5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    6. Turscak fell from grace with the fellas a long time ago. He's been PC'd up for a long time. This attack was not in support of George Floyd. It was a demonstration of hate towards law enforcement.

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    7. Yessir! Most don’t understand the politics involved with him… I agree 100%

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    8. @6:04PM In general people from Serbia and that part of the Balkans don't hate black people. I have heard several of them say so. Why should we hate blacks, they said. Black people have done nothing to us.
      How refreshing! To judge a person not by his skin color but by the content of his character!

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    9. He’s not a made member from Mexican mafia

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  3. I suppose he wants to die in federal prison than released, lest and be killed for the rat he is.

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  4. 8 years left in a 30 year sentence, then does this. Freedom is nicer.

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    Replies
    1. It says 2026 he can get out. That’s not 8 years.

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  5. Best thing I've herd all day. Fuck that lame.

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  6. What a bumbling gangster: can't even be a perfect carnalSo why join wonder who sponsored him?




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  7. Not only does this dude have an identity complex but he is also a complete moron for doing this close to his release.

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    Replies
    1. He was told to do this, by his handlers the fbi.
      They need to get rid of
      Derek before the retrial

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    2. 8:39 PM former FBI informant isn't "FBI HITMAN" silly goose

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    3. @ 8:39 Lmao!. This guy isn't anyone of importance. What's up with political folks just loving to make any individual that shares their views a martyr? The derek dude is a nobody. He's not withholding important information about the pedophilia in hollywood or anything. "They need to get rid of Derek before the retrial" LMAO as if he was somebody so important LOL

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  8. Dude doesn’t even know who he is lol 😂

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  9. So he’s a snitch lol

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  10. But there’s some dude that say that American gangsters don’t snitch lol

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  11. This guy is a nut. The amount of mentally deranged people in jails and prisons is overlooked. Did away with the mental health facilities and just ended up throwing them in regular jails/prisons.

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  12. Cops still protecting him, n layed stabbers jacket out for all to see, and target him now.

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    Replies
    1. His jacket has beeeeeeeennnnnn out for all to see. Why you think he was in Tucson in the first place. 🤦🏽‍♂️

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  13. He still gets no respect.After all he is rat and will remain a rat in PC.His reasoning is lame.Better off saying it was because he is an ex-cop.I for one thought it was a black guy.I cant be the only one.He better off in jail anyways.He has government protection there.But not on the streets.

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  14. Where the info on that video about 5 days ago with sicarios chopin off 2 guys ears off and having them say arriba markitos toys , heard about in ruben hernandez post on tic tok ..

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    Replies
    1. Yep totally today is Monday, time to get up and work at the malgastando market.

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  15. Chuy from vne was more powerful and respected than stranger!

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  16. This guy Stranger from Rockwood St was working for the FBI to bring down other Mexican Mafia members but this idiot started committing extortion for his benefit so his FBI handlers find out & he gets washed-up in the system. Legendary eme member Chuy Castro from VNE circles around him.

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    1. “Chuy Martinez”. Don’t confuse him with Chuco Castro from VNE who was a big rat on the first RICO.

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    2. I ran into chuco castro about 3yrs ago at my old job. Man looks shot out. Gordito worn out with a distinctive limp. Para todo ‘hey holmes’ lol. asked him about that whole ordeal, instantly turned irritated.

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  17. The dude he tried to kidnap Rolo has an interesting story… there’s an old article that was published in LA Weekly that talks about a murder & bunch of other crimes attributed to Rolo, Smiley, & their crew… crazy story… interesting to hear his name pop up in this case…

    -Holden D. Cash

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    Replies
    1. Rolo had a brother that was LAPD. I.A. had him under investigation but they were never able to prove anything

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  18. The black hand matters..
    He took ot too literal 😂

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  19. He Didn't wanna get out he was already green lighted anyways they would of gotten him on the outs

    ReplyDelete

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